Thursday, October 17, 2002

Circulating around the Filipino ether are images and clips of starlet Patricia Javier during the filming of an ad for beer (sorry, no gratuitous sex shots from me, go find it yourself). The reason I mention this is because my predominantly male staff were clustered around one of PCs watching the same clip over and over again. Patricia Javier standing in a skimpy top, wind blows her top away and she bashfully covers her breasts. (On close inspection of the material, her breasts were not really exposed)

Sigh.

This is what irks me about the state of advertising in the Philippines. The maxim of "Sex Sells" is, of course, true. But do we as creatives need to bow down to that aphorism, no matter how effective? Is sex the only way to sell a brand?

By using sex as a selling point, we cater to the most basic animal drives of the male population, true. And the beer gets sold, true.

But my god, can we not think of any other way? I have nothing against sex (love it) but if it must be used in this way, I prefer a more clever approach. Being obvious is for dummies.

(My boys continue to play back the thing over and over again, praising the power of the internet. And yes, of course I watched it too!)